Commentary on the Gospel of John (Book I)

From: Ante-Nicene Fathers, Vol. 9.
Edited by Allan Menzies

1. How Christians are the Spiritual Israel.

That people which was called of old the people of
God
was divided into twelve tribes, and over and above the other tribes it had the
levitical
order, which itself again carried on the service of God in various priestly and
levitical
suborders. In the same manner, it appears to me that the whole people of Christ, when we regard it in the aspect of the hidden man of the heart, Romans 2:29 that people which is called Jew inwardly, and is circumcised in the
spirit
, has in a more
mystic
way the characteristics of the tribes. This may be more plainly gathered from
John
in his
Apocalyse
, though the other prophets also do not by any means conceal the state of matters from those who have the faculty of hearing them.
John
speaks as follows: Revelation 7:2-5And I saw another angel
ascending
from the
sunrising
, having the
seal
of the living God, and he cried with a loud voice to the four angels to whom it was given to hurt the earth and the sea, saying, Hurt not either the earth, or the sea, or the trees, till we have sealed the servants of our
God
on their foreheads. And I heard the number of them that were sealed, a hundred and forty-four thousand who were sealed, out of every tribe of the children of Israel; of the tribe of
Juda
were sealed twelve thousand, of the tribe of
Roubem twelve thousand. And he mentioned each of the tribes singly, with the exception of
Dan
. Then, some way further on, Revelation 14:1-5 he continues: And I saw, and behold the
Lamb
standing on Mount Zion, and with Him a hundred and forty-four thousand, having His name and the name of His Father written on their foreheads. And I heard a voice from
heaven
as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of a great thunder. And the voice which I heard was as the voice of harpers harping with their harps; and they sing a new song before the throne and before the four beasts and the elders, and no one could learn the song but the hundred and forty-four thousand who had been purchased from the earth. These are they which were not defiled with women, for they are virgins. These are they who follow the
Lamb
whithersover He goes. These were purchased from among men, a first fruits to God and to the
Lamb
; and in their mouth was found no
lie
, for they are without blemish. Now this is said in
John
with reference to those who have believed in Christ, for they also, even if their bodily descent cannot be traced to the seed of the
Patriarchs
, are yet gathered out of the tribes. That this is so we may conclude from what is further said about them: Hurt not, he says, the earth, nor the sea, nor the trees, till we have sealed the servants of our
God
on their foreheads. And I heard the number of them that were sealed, a hundred and forty-four thousand, sealed from every tribe of the children of Israel.

2. The 144,000 Sealed in the Apocalypse are Converts to Christ from the Gentile World.

These, then, who are sealed on their foreheads Revelation 7:3-4 from every tribe of the children of Israel, are a hundred and forty-four thousand in number; and these hundred and forty-four thousand are afterwards said in
John
to have the name of the
Lamb
and of His Father written on their foreheads, and to be virgins, not having defiled themselves with women. What else could the
seal
be which is on their foreheads but the name of the
Lamb
and the name of His Father? In both passages their foreheads are said to have the
seal
; in one the
seal
is spoken of, in the other it appears to contain the letters forming the
name of the
Lamb
, and the name of His Father. Now these taken from the tribes are, as we showed before, the same persons as the virgins. But the number of believers is small who belong to Israel according to the flesh; one might venture to assert that they would not nearly make up the number of a hundred and forty-four thousand. It is clear, therefore, that the hundred and forty-four thousand who have not defiled themselves with women must be made up of those who have come to the divine word out of the
Gentile
world. In this way the truth of the statement may be upheld that the first fruits of each tribe are its virgins. For the passage goes on: These were brought from among men to be a first fruits to God and to the
Lamb
; and in their mouth was found no guile, for they are without blemish. The statement about the hundred and forty-four thousand no doubt admits of
mystical
interpretation; but it is unnecessary at this point, and would divert us from our purpose, to compare with it those passages of the prophets in which the same lesson is taught regarding those who are called from among the Gentiles.

3. In the Spiritual Israel the High-Priests are Those Who Devote Themselves to the Study of Scripture.

But what is the bearing of all this for us? So you will ask when you read these words,
Ambrosius
, you who are truly a man of God, a man in Christ, and who seekest to be not a man only, but a
spiritual
man. 1 Corinthians 2:14 The bearing is this. Those of the tribes
offer
to God, through the levites and priests, tithes and first fruits; not everything which they possess do they regard as tithe or first fruit. The levites and priests, on the other hand, have no
possessions
but tithes and first fruits; yet they also in turn
offer
tithes to
God
through the high-priests, and, I believe, first fruits too. The same is the case with those who approach Christian studies. Most of us devote most of our
time
to the things of this life, and
dedicate
to
God
only a few special
acts
, thus resembling those members of the tribes who had but few transactions with the priest, and discharged their
religious
duties
with no great expense of
time
. But those who devote themselves to the divine word and have no other employment but the service of
God
may not unnaturally, allowing for the difference of occupation in the two cases, be called our levites and priests. And those who fulfil a more distinguished office than their
kinsmen
will
perhaps be high-priests, according to the order of Aaron, not that of
Melchisedek
. Here some one may object that it is somewhat too bold to apply the name of high-priests to men, when
Jesus
Himself is spoken of in many a
prophetic
passage as the one great priest, as Hebrews 4:14We have a great high-priest who has passed through the heavens,
Jesus
, the Son of God. But to this we reply that the
Apostle
clearly
defined
his meaning, and declared the prophet to have said about the Christ, You
are a priest for ever, according to the order of
Melchisedek
, and not according to the order of Aaron. We say accordingly that
men
can be high-priests according to the order of Aaron, but according to the order of
Melchisedek
only the
Christ
of God.

4. The Study of the Gospels is the First Fruits Offered by These Priests of Christianity.

Now our whole activity is devoted to God, and our whole life, since we are bent on progress in divine things. If, then, it be our desire to have the whole of those first fruits spoken of above which are made up of the many first fruits, if we are not mistaken in this view, in what must our first fruits consist, after the bodily separation we have undergone from each other, but in the study of the Gospel? For we may venture to say that the Gospel is the first fruits of all the Scriptures. Where, then, could be the first fruits of our activity, since the
time
when we came to Alexandria, but in the first fruits of the Scriptures? It must not be forgotten, however, that the first fruits are not the same as the first growth. For the first fruits
are
offered
after all the fruits (are ripe), but the first
growth
before them all. Now of the Scriptures which are current and are believed to be divine in all the churches, one would not be wrong in saying that the first growth is the law of Moses, but the first fruits the Gospel. For it was after all the fruits of the prophets who
prophesied
till the Lord Jesus, that the
perfect
word shot forth.

5. All Scripture is Gospel; But the Gospels are Distinguished Above Other Scriptures.

Here, however, some one may object, appealing to the notion
just
put forward of the unfolding of the first fruits last, and may say that the
Acts
and the letters of the
Apostles
came after the Gospels, and that this destroys our argument to the effect that the Gospel is the first fruits of all
Scripture
. To this we must reply that it is the conviction of
men
who are wise in Christ, who have profited by those
epistles
which are current, and who see them to be
vouched
for by the testimonies deposited in the
law
and the prophets,
that the
apostolic
writings are to be pronounced wise and worthy of
belief
, and that they have great authority, but that they are not on the same level with that Thus says the
Lord
Almighty
.2 Corinthians 6:18 Consider on this point the language of St. Paul. When he declares that 2 Timothy 3:16Every
Scripture
is
inspired
of God and profitable, does he include his own writings? Or does he not include his dictum, 1 Corinthians 7:12I say, and not the
Lord
, and 1 Corinthians 7:17So I
ordain
in all the churches, and 2 Timothy 3:11What things I suffered at Antioch, at
Iconium
, at
Lystra
, and similar things which he writes in virtue of his own authority, and which do not quite possess the
character
of words flowing from divine
inspiration
. Must we also show that the old
Scripture
is not Gospel, since it does not point out the
Coming
One, but only foretells Him and heralds His coming at a future
time
; but that all the new
Scripture
is the Gospel. It not only says as in the beginning of the Gospel, John 1:29Behold the
Lamb
of God, which takes away the sin of the world; it also contains many praises of Him, and many of His teachings, on whose account the Gospel is a Gospel. Again, if
God
set in the ChurchEphesians 4:11apostles and prophets and evangelists (
gospellers
),
pastors
and teachers, we must first enquire what was the office of the evangelist, and mark that it is not only to narrate how the
Saviour
cured a man who was blind from his birth, John 9:1 or
raised
up a dead man who was already stinking, John 11:39 or to state what extraordinary works he wrought; and the office of the evangelist being thus
defined
, we shall not hesitate to find Gospel in such discourse also as is not narrative but hortatory and
intended
to strengthen
belief
in the mission of
Jesus
; and thus we shall arrive at the position that whatever was written by the
Apostles
is Gospel. As to this second
definition
, it might be objected that the
Epistles
are not entitled Gospel, and that we are wrong in applying the name of Gospel to the whole of the New Testament. But to this we answer that it happens not unfrequently in
Scripture
when two or more persons or things are named by the same name, the name attaches itself most significantly to one of those things or persons. Thus the
Saviour
says, Matthew 23:8-9Call no man
Master
upon the earth; while the
Apostle
says that
Masters
have been appointed in the Church. These latter accordingly will not be
Masters
in the strict sense of the dictum of the Gospel. In the same way the Gospel in the
Epistles
will not extend to every word of them, when it is compared with the narrative of
Jesus'
actions
and sufferings and discourses. No: the Gospel is the first fruits of all
Scripture
, and to these first fruits of the Scriptures we devote the first fruits of all those
actions
of ours which we trust to see turn out as we desire.

6. The Fourfold Gospel. John's the First Fruits of the Four. Qualifications Necessary for Interpreting It.

Now the Gospels are four. These four are, as it were, the elements of the faith of the Church, out of which elements the whole world which is reconciled to God in
Christ
is put together; as Paul says, 2 Corinthians 5:19God was in Christ, reconciling the world to Himself; of which world
Jesus
bore the sin; for it is of the world of the Church that the word is written, John 1:29Behold the
Lamb
of
God
which takes away the sin of the world. The Gospels then being four, I deem the first fruits of the Gospels to be that which you
have enjoined me to search into according to my powers, the Gospel of John, that which speaks of him whose
genealogy
had already been set forth, but which begins to speak of him at a point before he had any
genealogy
. For
Matthew
, writing for the
Hebrews
who looked for Him who was to come of the line of Abraham and of
David
, says: Matthew 1:1The book of the generation of Jesus Christ, the son of
David
, the son of Abraham. And
Mark
, knowing what he writes, narrates the beginning of the Gospel; we may perhaps find what he aims at in
John
; in the beginning the
Word
, God the Word. But
Luke
, though he says at the beginning of
Acts
, The former treatise did I make about all that Jesus began to do and to teach, yet
leaves to him who
lay
on
Jesus'
breast the greatest and
completest
discourses about
Jesus
. For none of these plainly declared His
Godhead
, as
John
does when he makes Him say, I am the light of the world,I am the way and the truth and the life,I am the
resurrection
,I am the door,I am the
good
shepherd; and in the
Apocalypse
, I am the
Alpha
and the
Omega
, the beginning and the end, the first and the last. We may therefore make bold to say that the Gospels are the first fruits of all the Scriptures, but that of the Gospels that of
John
is the first fruits. No one can apprehend the meaning of it except he have lain on
Jesus'
breast and received from
Jesus
Mary
to be his mother also. Such an one must he become who is to be another
John
, and to have shown to him, like
John
, by
Jesus
Himself
Jesus
as He is. For if
Mary
, as those declare who with sound
mind
extol her, had no other son but
Jesus
, and yet
Jesus
says to His mother, Woman, behold your son,John 19:26 and not Behold you have this son also, then He virtually said to her, Lo, this is
Jesus
, whom you bore. Is it not the case that every one who is
perfect
lives himself no longer, Galatians 2:20 but
Christ
lives in him; and if
Christ
lives in him, then it is said of him to
Mary
, Behold your son
Christ
. What a mind, then, must we have to enable us to interpret in a worthy manner this work, though it be committed to the earthly treasure-house of common speech, of writing which any
passer-by
can read, and which can be heard when read aloud by any one who lends to it his bodily ears? What shall we say of this work? He who is accurately to apprehend what it contains should be able to say with truth,
We have the
mind
of Christ, that we may know those things which are bestowed on us by God. It is possible to quote one of Paul's sayings in support of the contention that the whole of the New Testament is Gospel. He writes in a
certain
place: Romans 2:16According to my Gospel. Now we have no written work of Paul which is commonly called a Gospel. But all that he preached and said was the Gospel; and what he preached and said he was also in the habit of writing, and what he wrote was therefore Gospel. But if what Paul wrote was Gospel, it follows that what
Peter
wrote was also Gospel, and in a word all that was said or written to
perpetuate
the knowledge of Christ's sojourn on earth, and to prepare for His second coming, or to bring it about as a present reality in those souls which were willing to receive the Word of God as He stood at the door and knocked and sought to come into them.

7. What Good Things are Announced in the Gospels.

But it is
time
we should inquire what is the meaning of the designation Gospel, and why these books have this title. Now the Gospel is a discourse containing a promise of things which
naturally
, and on account of the benefits they bring, rejoice the hearer as soon as the promise is heard and believed. Nor is such a discourse any the less a Gospel that we
define
it with reference to the position of the hearer. A Gospel is either a word which implies the actual presence to the
believer
of something that is
good
, or a word promising the arrival of a
good
which is expected. Now all these
definitions
apply to those books which are named Gospels. For each of the Gospels is a collection of announcements which are useful to him who
believes
them and does not
misinterpret
them; it brings him a benefit and
naturally
makes him glad because it tells of the sojourn with
men
, on account of men, and for their salvation, of the first-born of all
creation
, Colossians 1:15
Christ
Jesus
. And again each Gospel tells of the sojourn of the
good
Father in the Son with those minded to receive Him, as is plain to every
believer
; and moreover by these books a
good
is announced which had been formerly expected, as is by no means hard to see. For
John
the Baptist spoke in the name almost of the whole people when he sent to
Jesus
and asked, Matthew 11:3Are you He that should come or do we look for another? For to the people the
Messiah
was an expected
good
, which the prophets had foretold, and they all alike, though under the
law
and the prophets, fixed their
hopes
on Him, as the Samaritanwoman bears witness when she says: John 4:25I know that the
Messiah
comes, who is called
Christ
; when He comes He will tell us all things.
Simon
and
Cleopas
too, when talking to each other about all that had happened to Jesus Christ Himself, then
risen
, though they did not know that He had
risen
from the dead, speak thus, Luke 24:18-21Do you sojourn alone in
Jerusalem
, and know not the things which have taken place there in these days? And when he said what things? They answered, The things concerning Jesus of Nazareth,
which was a prophet, mighty in
deed and in word before
God
and all the people, and how the chief priests and our rulers delivered Him up to be
sentenced
to death and crucified Him. But we
hoped
that it was He which should
redeem
Israel. Again,
Andrew
the brother of Simon Peter found his own brother
Simon
and said to him, John 1:42We have found the
Messiah
, which is, being interpreted,
Christ
. And a little further on
Philip
finds
Nathanael
and says to him, John 1:46We have found Him of whom Moses in the
law
, and the prophets, wrote,
Jesus
the son of
Joseph
, from Nazareth.

8. How the Gospels Cause the Other Books of Scripture Also to Be Gospel.

Now an objection might be
raised
to our first
definition
, because it would embrace books which are not entitled Gospels. For the
law
and the prophets also are to our eyes books containing the promise of things which, from the benefit they will confer on him,
naturally
rejoice the hearer as soon as he takes in the message. To this it may be said that before the sojourn of Christ, the
law
and the prophets, since He had not come who interpreted the mysteries they contained, did not convey such a promise as belongs to our
definition
of the Gospel; but the Saviour, when He sojourned with
men
and
caused
the Gospel to appear in bodily
form
, by the Gospel
caused
all things to appear as Gospel. Here I would not think it beside the purpose to quote the example of Him
who...a few
things...and
yet all.
For when he had taken away the veil which was present in the
law
and the prophets, and by His divinity had proved the sons of
men
that the
Godhead
was at work, He opened the way for all those who desired it to be disciples of His wisdom, and to understand what things were true and real in the law of Moses, of which things those of old
worshipped
the
type
and the shadow, and what things were real of the things narrated in the histories which happened to them in the way of
type
,1 Corinthians 10:11 but these things were written for our sakes, upon whom the ends of the ages have come. With whomsoever, then,
Christ
has sojourned, he
worships
God
neither at
Jerusalem
nor on the mountain of the Samaritans; he knows that
God
is a
spirit
, and
worships
Him spiritually, in
spirit
and in truth; no longer by
type
does he
worship
the Father and
Maker
of all. Before that Gospel, therefore, which came into being by the sojourning of Christ, none of the older works was a Gospel. But the Gospel, which is the new covenant, having delivered us from the oldness of the letter, lights up for us, by the light of knowledge,
the newness of the
spirit
, a thing which never grows old, which has its home in the New Testament, but is also present in all the Scriptures. It was fitting, therefore, that that Gospel, which enables us to find the Gospel present, even in the Old Testament, should itself receive, in a special sense, the name of Gospel.

9. The Somatic and the Spiritual Gospel.

We must not, however, forget that the sojourning of
Christ
with
men
took place before His bodily sojourn, in an
intellectual
fashion, to those who were more
perfect
and not children, and were not under
pedagogues
and governors. In their
minds
they saw the fullness of the
time
to be at hand— the
patriarchs
, and Moses the servant, and the prophets who beheld the glory of Christ. And as before His manifest and bodily coming He came to those who were
perfect
, so also, after His coming has been announced to all, to those who are still children, since they are under
pedagogues
and governors and have not yet arrived at the fullness of the
time
, forerunners of
Christ
have come to sojourn, discourses (logoi) suited for
minds
still in their childhood, and rightly, therefore, termed
pedagogues
. But the Son Himself, the glorifiedGod, the
Word
, has not yet come; He waits for the preparation which must take place on the part of
men
of
God
who are to admit His
deity
. And this, too, we must bear in mind, that as the
law
contains a shadow of
good
things to come, which are indicated by that
law
which is announced according to truth, so the Gospel also teaches a shadow of the mysteries of Christ, the Gospel which is thought to be capable of being understood by any one. What
John
calls the eternalGospel, and what may properly be called the
spiritual
Gospel, presents clearly to those who have the
will
to understand, all matters concerning the very Son of God, both the mysteries presented by His discourses and those matters of which His
acts
were the enigmas. In accordance with this we may conclude that, as it is with Him who is a
Jew
outwardly and circumcised in the flesh, so it is with the Christian and with baptism. Paul and
Peter
were, at an earlier period, Jews outwardly and circumcised, but later they received from
Christ
that they should be so
in secret, too; so that outwardly they were Jews for the sake of the salvation of many, and by an
economy
they not only
confessed
in words that they were Jews, but showed it by their
actions
. And the same is to be said about their Christianity. As Paul could not benefit those who were Jews according to the flesh, without, when
reason
shows it to be
necessary
,
circumcising
Timothy
, and when it appears the
natural
course getting himself shaved and making a
vow
, and, in a word, being to the Jews a
Jew
that he might gain the Jews— so also it is not possible for one who is responsible for the
good
of many to operate as he should by means of that Christianity only which is in secret. That
will
never enable him to improve those who are following the external Christianity, or to lead them on to better and higher things. We must, therefore, be Christians both
somatically and spiritually, and where there is a call for the
somatic (bodily) Gospel, in which a man says to those who are carnal that he knows nothing but Jesus Christ and Him crucified, so we must do. But should we find those who are perfected in the
spirit
, and bear fruit in it, and are enamoured of the
heavenly
wisdom, these must be made to partake of that
Word
which, after it was made flesh, rose again to what it was in the beginning, with God.

10. How Jesus Himself is the Gospel.

The foregoing inquiry into the nature of the Gospel cannot be regarded as useless; it has enabled us to see what distinction there is between a sensible Gospel and an
intellectual
and
spiritual
one. What we have now to do is to transform the sensible Gospel into a
spiritual
one.

For what would the narrative of the sensible Gospel amount to if it were not developed to a
spiritual
one? It would be of little account or none; any one can read it and assure himself of the facts it
tells
— no more. But our whole energy is now to be directed to the effort to penetrate to the deep things of the meaning of the Gospel and to search out the truth that is in it when divested of
types
. Now what the Gospels say is to be regarded in the light of promises of
good
things; and we must say that the
good
things the
Apostles
announce in this Gospel are simply
Jesus
. One
good
thing which they are said to announce is the
resurrection
; but the
resurrection
is in a manner
Jesus
, for
Jesus
says: John 11:25I am the
resurrection
.
Jesus
preaches to the
poor
those things which are laid up for the saints, calling them to the divine promises. And the holy Scriptures bear witness to the Gospel announcements made by the
Apostles
and to that made by our
Saviour
.
David
says of the
Apostles
, perhaps also of the evangelists:
The
Lord
shall give the word to those that preach with great power; the King of the powers of the beloved; teaching at the same time that it is not skilfully composed discourse, nor the mode of delivery, nor well practised eloquence that produces conviction, but the communication of divine power. Hence also Paul says:
I
will
know not the word that is puffed up, but the power; for the
kingdom
of
God
is not in word but in power. And in another passage: 1 Corinthians 2:4And my word and my preaching were not persuasive words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the
spirit
and of power. To this power
Simon
and
Cleophas
bear witness when they say: Luke 24:32Was not our heart burning within us by the way, as he opened to us the Scriptures? And the
Apostles
, since the
quantity
of the power is great which God supplies to the speakers, had great power, according to the word of
David
: The
Lord
will give the word to the preachers with great power.
Isaiah
too says:
How beautiful are the feet of them that proclaim
good
tidings; he sees how beautiful and how opportune was the announcement of the
Apostles
who walked in Him who said, I am the way, and praises the feet of those who walk in the
intellectual
way of
Christ
Jesus
, and through that door go in to God. They announce
good
tidings, those whose feet are beautiful, namely,
Jesus
.

11. Jesus is All Good Things; Hence the Gospel is Manifold.

Let no one wonder if we have understood
Jesus
to be announced in the Gospel under a plurality of names of
good
things. If we look at the things by the names of which the Son of God is called, we shall understand how many
good
things
Jesus
is, whom those preach whose feet are beautiful. One
good
thing is life; but
Jesus
is the life. Another
good
thing is the light of the world, when it is true light, and the light of
men
; and all these things the Son of God is said to be. And another
good
thing which one may conceive to be in addition to life or light is the truth. And a fourth in addition to
time
is the way which leads to the truth. And all these things our
Saviour
teaches that He is,
when He says: John 14:6I am the way and the truth and the life. Ah, is not that
good
, to shake off earth and mortality, and to
rise
again, obtaining this boon from the
Lord
, since He is the
resurrection
, as He says: John 11:25I am the
resurrection
. But the door also is a
good
, through which one enters into the highest
blessedness
. Now
Christ
says: John 10:9I am the door. And what need is there to speak of wisdom, which the
Lord
created
Proverbs 8:22 the first principle of His ways, for His works, in whom the father of her rejoiced, delighting in her manifold
intellectual
beauty, seen by the eyes of the
mind
alone, and provoking him to love who discerns her divine and
heavenly
charm? A
good
indeed is the wisdom of God, proclaimed along with the other
good
foresaid by those whose feet are beautiful. And the power of
God
is the eighth
good
we enumerate, which is Christ. Nor must we omit to mention the
Word
, who is
God
after the Father of all. For this also is a
good
, less than no other.
Happy
, then, are those who accept these
goods
and receive them from those who announce the
good
tidings of them, those whose feet are beautiful. Indeed even one of the
Corinthians
to whom Paul declared that he knew nothing but Jesus Christ and Him crucified, should he learn Him who for our sakes became man, and so receive Him, he would become identified with the beginning of the
good
things we have spoken of; by the man
Jesus
he would be made a man of God, and by His death he would die to sin. For Christ, Romans 6:10 in that He died, died unto sin once. But from His life, since in that He lives, He lives unto God, every one who is conformed to His resurrection receives that living to God. But who
will
deny that righteousness,
essential
righteousness, is a
good
, and
essential
sanctification, and
essential
redemption
? And these things those preach who preach
Jesus
, saying 1 Corinthians 1:30 that He is made to be of
God
righteousness and sanctification and
redemption
. Hence we shall have writings about Him without number, showing that Jesus is a multitude of
goods
; for from the things which can scarcely be numbered and which have been written we may make some conjecture of those things which actually
exist
in Him in whom
it pleased
God
that the whole fullness of the
Godhead
should dwell bodily, and which are not contained in writings. Why should I say, are not contained in
writings
? For
John
speaks of the whole world in this connection, and says: John 21:25I suppose that not even the world itself would contain the books which would be written. Now to say that the
Apostles
preach the
Saviour
is to say that they preach these
good
things. For this is He who received from the
good
Father that He Himself should be these
good
things, so that each man receiving from
Jesus
the thing or things he is capable of receiving may enjoy
good
things. But the
Apostles
, whose feet were beautiful, and those imitators of them who sought to preach the
good
tidings, could not have done so had not
Jesus
Himself first preached the
good
tidings to them, as
Isaiah
says: Isaiah 52:6I myself that speak am here, as the opportunity on the mountains, as the feet of one preaching tidings of peace, as one preaching
good
things; for I will make My salvation to be heard, saying,
God
shall reign over you, O Zion! For what are the mountains on which the speaker declares that He Himself is present, but those who are less than none of the highest and the greatest of the earth? And these must be sought by the able
ministers
of the New
Covenant
, in order that they may observe the injunction which says: Isaiah 40:9 Go up into a high mountain, you that
preachest
good
tidings to Zion; you that
preachest
good
tidings to
Jerusalem
, lift up your voice with strength!
Now it is not wonderful if to those who are to preach
good
tidings
Jesus
Himself preaches
good
tidings of
good
things, which are no other than Himself; for the Son of God preaches the
good
tidings of Himself to those who cannot come to know Him through others. And He who goes up into the mountains and preaches
good
things to them, being Himself instructed by His
good
Father, Matthew 5:45 who makes His sun to
rise
on the evil and on the
good
, and sends rain on the
just
and on the unjust, He does not
despise
those who are
poor
in soul. To them He preaches
good
tidings, as He Himself bears witness to us when He takes
Isaiah
and reads: The
spirit
of the
Lord
is upon me, for the
Lord
has
anointed
me to preach
good
tidings to the poor, He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives, and sight to the blind. For closing the book He handed it to the
minister
and sat down. And when the eyes of all were fastened upon Him, He said, This day is this
Scripture
fulfilled in your ears.

12. The Gospel Contains the Ill Deeds Also Which Were Done to Jesus.

It ought not to be forgotten that in such a
Gospel as this there is embraced every
good
deed
which was done to
Jesus
; as, for example, the story of the woman
who had been a
sinner
and had
repented
, and who, having experienced a genuine recovery from her evil state, had grace to pour her ointment over
Jesus
so that every one in the house
smelt
the sweet savour. Hence, too, the words, Wherever this Gospel shall be preached among all the nations, there also this that she has done shall be spoken of, for a memorial of her. And it is clear that whatever is done to the disciples of Jesus is done to Him.
Pointing
to those of them who met with kind treatment, He says to those who were kind to them, Matthew 25:40What ye did to these, you did to Me. So that every
good
deed
we do to our neighbours is entered in the Gospel, that Gospel which is written on the
heavenly
tablets and read by all who are worthy of the knowledge of the whole of things. But on the other side, too, there is a part of the Gospel which is for the condemnation of the doers of the ill deeds which have been done to
Jesus
. The treachery of
Judas
and the shouts of the wicked crowd when it said, John 19:6, 15Away with such a one from the earth, and Crucify Him, crucify Him, the mockings of those who crowned Him with thorns, and everything of that kind, is included in the Gospels. And as a consequence of this we see that every one who betrays the disciples of Jesus is reckoned as betraying
Jesus
Himself. To
Saul
, Acts 9:4-5 when still a persecutor it is said, Saul
Saul
, why do you persecute Me? and, I am
Jesus
whom you persecute. There are those who still have thorns with which they crown and dishonour
Jesus
, those, namely, who are choked by the cares, and
riches
, and pleasures of life, and though they have received the word of God, do not bring it to
perfection
. Luke 8:14 We must beware, therefore, lest we also, as crowning
Jesus
with thorns of our own, should be entered in the Gospel and read of in this
character
by those who learn the
Jesus
, who is in all and is present in all
rational
and holy lives, learn how He is
anointed
with ointment, is entertained, is glorified, or how, on the other side, He is dishonoured, and mocked, and beaten. All this had to be said; it is part of our demonstration that our
good
actions
, and also the sins of those who stumble, are embodied in the Gospel, either to everlasting life or to reproach and everlasting shame.

13. The Angels Also are Evangelists.

Now if there are those among men who are
honoured
with the
ministry
of evangelists, and if
Jesus
Himself brings tidings of
good
things, and preaches the Gospel to the poor, surely those messengers who were made
spirits
by God,
those who are a flame of fire,
ministers
of the Father of all, cannot have been excluded from being evangelists also. Hence an angel standing over the shepherds made a bright light to shine round about them, and said: Luke 2:10-11Fear not; behold I bring you
good
tidings of great joy, which shall be to all the people; for there is born to you, this day, a
Saviour
, who is
Christ
the
Lord
, in the city of
David
. And at a
time
when there was no knowledge among men of the mystery of the Gospel, those who were greater than
men
and inhabitants of
heaven
, the army of God, praised God, saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace,
good
will
among men.
And having said this, the angels go away from the shepherds into
heaven
, leaving us to gather how the joy preached to us through the birth of Jesus Christ is glory in the highest to God; they
humbled
themselves even to the ground, and then returned to their place of rest, to
glorify
God
in the highest through Jesus Christ. But the angels also wonder at the peace which is to be brought about on account of Jesus on the earth, that seat of war, on which
Lucifer
, star of the morning, fell from
heaven
, to be
warred
against and destroyed by
Jesus
.

14. The Old Testament, Typified by John, is the Beginning of the Gospel.

In addition to what we have said, there is also this to be considered about the Gospel, that in the first instance it is that of
Christ
Jesus
, the head of the whole body of the
saved
; as
Mark
says, Mark 1:1The beginning of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Then also it is the Gospel of the
Apostles
; whence PaulRomans 2:16 says, According to my Gospel. But the beginning of the Gospel— for in respect of its extent it has a beginning, a continuation, a middle, and an end— is nothing but the whole Old Testament.
John
is, in this respect, a
type
of the Old Testament, or, if we regard the connection of the New Testament with the Old,
John
represents the termination of the Old. For the same
Mark
says:
The beginning of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, as it is written in
Isaiah
the prophet, Behold I send my messenger be
fore your face, who shall prepare your way. The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the
Lord
, make His paths straight. And here I must wonder how the
dissentients
can connect the two
Testaments
with two different Gods. These words, were there no others, are enough to convict them of their error. For how can
John
be the beginning of the Gospel if they suppose he belongs to a different God, if he belongs to the demiurge, and, as they hold, is not acquainted with the new
deity
? And the angels are not entrusted with but one evangelical ministry, and that a short one, not only with that addressed to the shepherds. For at the end an exalted and flying angel, having the Gospel,
will
preach it to every nation, for the
good
Father has not entirely deserted those who have fallen away from Him.
John
, son of
Zebedee
, says in his
Apocalypse
: Revelation 14:6-7And I saw an angel flying in the midst of
heaven
, having the
Eternal
Gospel, to preach it to those who dwell upon the earth, and to every nation, and tribe, and tongue, and people, saying, with a loud voice,
Fear
God
and give Him glory, for the hour of His
judgment
has come, and
worship
Him that made the
heaven
, and the earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters.

15. The Gospel is in the Old Testament, and Indeed in the Whole Universe. Prayer for Aid to Understand the Mystical Sense of the Work in Hand.

As, then, we have shown that the beginning of the Gospel, according to one interpretation, is the whole Old Testament, and is
signified
by the
person
of
John
, we shall add, lest this should be called a mere unsupported assertion, what is said in the
Acts
about the eunuch of the queen of the Ethiopians and
Philip
.
Philip
, it is said, began at the passage of
Isaiah
: He was led as a
lamb
to the
slaughter
, and as a
lamb
before his shearer is dumb, and so preached to him the Lord Jesus. How can he begin with the prophet and preach
Jesus
, if
Isaiah
was not a part of the beginning of the Gospel? From this we may derive a proof of the assertion made at the outset, that
every
divine Scripture is Gospel. If he who preaches the Gospel preaches
good
things, and all those who spoke before the sojourn of Jesus in the flesh preach
Christ
, who is as we saw
good
things, then the words spoken by all of them alike are in a sense a part of the Gospel. And when the Gospel is said to be declared throughout the whole world, we infer that it is actually preached in the whole world, not, that is to say, in this earthly district only, but in the whole system of
heaven
and earth, or from
heaven
and earth. And why should we discuss any further what the Gospel is? What we have said is enough. Besides the passages we have adduced, passages by no means inept or unsuited for our purpose
—much to the same effect might be collected from the Scriptures, so that it is clearly seen what is the glory of the
good
things in Jesus Christ shed forth by the Gospel, the Gospel
ministered
by
men
and angels, and, I believe, also by
authorities
and powers, Ephesians 1:21 and thrones and dominions, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in the world to come, and indeed even by
Christ
Himself. Here, then, let us bring to a close what has to be said before proceeding to read the work itself. And now let us ask
God
to assist us through Jesus Christ by the Holy Spirit, so that we may be able to unfold the
mystical
sense which is treasured up in the words before us.

16. Meaning of Beginning. (1) in Space.

In the beginning was the
Word
.John 1:1 It is not only the
Greeks
who consider the word beginning to have many meanings. Let any one
collect
the Scripture passages in which the word occurs, and with a view to an accurate interpretation of it note what it stands for in each passage, and he will find that the word has many meanings in
sacred
discourse also. We speak of a beginning in reference to a transition. Here it has to do with a road and with length. This appears in the saying: Proverbs 16:5The beginning of a
good
way is to do justice. For since the
good
way is long, there have first to be considered in reference to it the question connected with
action
, and this side is presented in the words to do justice; the
contemplative
side comes up for consideration afterwards. In the latter the end of it comes to rest at last in the so-called restoration of all things, since no enemy is left them to fight against, if that be true which is said: 1 Corinthians 15:25-26For He must reign until He have placed His enemies under His feet. But the last enemy to be destroyed is death. For then but one activity will be left for those who have come to
God
on account of His word which is with Him, that, namely, of
knowingGod, so that, being found by the knowledge of the Father, they may all be His Son, as now no one but the Son knows the Father. For should any one enquire carefully at what
time
those are to know the Father to whom He who knows the Father
reveals
Him, and should he consider how a man now sees only through a glass and in a riddle, never having learned to know as he ought to know, he would be
justified
in saying that no one, no
apostle
even, and no prophet had known the Father, but when he became one with Him as a son and a father are one. And if any one says that it is a digression which has led us to this point, our consideration of that one meaning of the word beginning, we must show that the digression is
necessary
and useful for the end we have in view. For if we speak of a beginning in the case of a transition, and of a way and its length, and if we are told that the beginning of a
good
way is to do justice, then it concerns us to know in what manner every
good
way has for its beginning to do justice, and how after such beginning it arrives at contemplation, and in what manner it thus arrives at contemplation.

17. (2) in Time. The Beginning of Creation.

Again, there is a beginning in a
matter
of origin, as might appear in the saying: Genesis 1:1In the beginning
God
made the
heaven
and the earth. This meaning, however, appears more plainly in the
Book
of
Job
in the passage: Job 40:19This is the beginning of
God's
creation
, made for His angels to mock at. One would suppose that the heavens and the earth were made first, of all that was made at the
creation
of the world. But the second passage suggests a better view, namely, that as many beings were framed with a body, the first made of these was the creature called dragon, but called in another passage Job 3:8 the great whale (leviathan) which the
Lord
tamed. We must ask about this; whether, when the saints were living a
blessed
life apart from
matter
and from any body, the dragon, falling from the pure life, became fit to be bound in
matter
and in a body, so that the
Lord
could say, speaking through storm and clouds, This is the beginning of the
creation
of God, made for His angels to mock at. It is possible, however, that the dragon is not positively the beginning of the
creation
of the
Lord
, but that there were many creatures made with a body for the angels to mock, and that the dragon was the first of these, while others could subsist in a body without such reproach. But it is not so. For the soul of the sun is placed in a body, and the whole
creation
, of which the
Apostle
says:
The whole
creation
groans and travails in pain together until now, and perhaps the following is about the same: The
creation
was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but on account of Him who subjected it for
hope
; so that bodies might be in vanity, and doing the things of the body, as he who is in the body must..
..One who is in the body does the things of the body, though unwillingly. Wherefore the
creation
was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but he who does unwillingly the things of the body does what he does for the sake of
hope
, as if we should say that Paul desired to remain in the flesh, not willingly, but on account of
hope
. For though he thought it better Philippians 1:23 to be dissolved and to be with
Christ
, it was not unreasonable that he should wish to remain in the flesh for the sake of the benefit to others and of advancement in the things
hoped
for, not only by him, but also by those benefited by him. This meaning of the term beginning, as of origin,
will
serve us also in the passage in which Wisdom speaks in the
Proverbs
.
God, we read, created me the beginning of His ways, for His works. Here the term could be interpreted as in the first application we spoke of, that of a way: The
Lord
, it says, created me the beginning of His ways. One might assert, and with
reason
, that
God
Himself is the beginning of all things, and might go on to say, as is plain, that the Father is the beginning of the Son; and the demiurge the beginning of the works of the demiurge, and that
God
in a word is the beginning of all that exists. This view is supported by our: In the beginning was the
Word
. In the
Word
one may see the Son, and because He is in the Father He may be said to be in the beginning.

18. (3) of Substance.

In the third place a beginning may be that out of which a thing comes, the underlying
matter
from which things are formed. This, however, is the view of those who hold
matter
itself to be uncreated, a view which we believers cannot share, since we believe
God
to have made the things that are out of the things which are not, as the
mother of the seven martyrs in the
Maccabees
teaches, 2 Maccabbees 7:28 and as the angel of
repentance
in the
Shepherd
inculcated.

19. (4) of Type and Copy.

In addition to these meanings there is that in which we speak of an arche,
according to
form
; thus if the first-born of every creature Colossians 1:15 is the image of the invisible God, then the Father is his arche. In the same way
Christ
is the arche of those who are made according to the image of God. For if
men
are according to the image, but the image according to the Father; in the first case the Father is the arche of Christ, and in the other
Christ
is the arche of men, and
men
are made, not according to that of which he is the image, but according to the image. With this example our passage
will
agree: In the arche was the
Word
.

20. (5) of Elements and What is Formed from Them.

There is also an arche in a
matter
of learning, as when we say that the letters are the arche of grammar. The
Apostle
accordingly says: Hebrews 5:12When by
reason
of the
time
you ought to be teachers, you have need again that some one teach you what are the elements of the arche of the
oracles
of God. Now the arche spoken of in connection with learning is twofold; first in respect of its
nature
, secondly in its relation to us; as we might say of Christ, that by
nature
His arche is
deity
, but that in relation to us who cannot, for its very greatness, command the whole truth about Him, His arche is His manhood, as He is preached to babes, Jesus Christ and Him crucified. In this view, then,
Christ
is the arche of learning in His own
nature
, because He is the wisdom and power of God; but for us, the Word was made flesh, that He might
tabernacle
among us who could only thus at first receive Him. And perhaps this is the
reason
why He is not only the firstborn of all
creation
, but is also designated the man,
Adam
. For Paul says He is
Adam
: 1 Corinthians 15:45The last Adam was made a life-giving
spirit
.

21. (6) of Design and Execution.

Again we speak of the arche of an
action
, in which there is a design which appears after the beginning. It may be considered whether wisdom is to be regarded as the arche of the works of
God
because it is in this way the principle of them.

22. The Word Was in the Beginning, I.e., in Wisdom, Which Contained All Things in Idea, Before They Existed. Christ's Character as Wisdom is Prior to His Other Characters.

So many meanings occur to us at once of the word arche. We have now to ask which of them we should
adopt
for our text, In the beginning was the
Word
. It is plain that we may at once dismiss the meaning which connects it with transition or with a road and its length. Nor, it is pretty plain,
will
the meaning connected with an origin serve our purpose. One might, however, think of the sense in which it points to the author, to that which brings about the effect, if, as we read,
God commanded and they were
created
. For
Christ
is, in a manner, the demiurge, to whom the Father says, Let there be light, and Let there be a
firmament
. But
Christ
is demiurge as a beginning (arche), inasmuch as He is wisdom. It is in virtue of His being wisdom that He is called arche. For Wisdom says in
Solomon
: Proverbs 8:22God
created
me the beginning of His ways, for His works, so that the
Word
might be in an arche, namely, in wisdom.
Considered
in relation to the structure of contemplation and thoughts about the whole of things, it is regarded as wisdom; but in relation to that side of the objects of thought, in which reasonable beings apprehend them, it is considered as the
Word
. And there is no wonder, since, as we have said before, the
Saviour
is many
good
things, if He comprises in Himself thoughts of the first order, and of the second, and of the third. This is what
John
suggested when he said about the
Word
: John 1:3-4That which was made was life in Him. Life then came in the
Word
. And on the one side the
Word
is no other than the Christ, the
Word
, He who was with the Father, by whom all things were made; while, on the other side, the Life is no other than the Son of God, who says: John 14:6I am the way and the truth and the life. As, then, life came into being in the
Word
, so the
Word
in the arche. Consider, however, if we are at liberty to take this meaning of arche for our text: In the beginning was the
Word
, so as to obtain the meaning that all things came into being according to wisdom and according to the models of the system which are present in his thoughts. For I consider that as a house or a ship is built and fashioned in accordance with the sketches of the builder or
designer
,
the house or the ship having their beginning (arche) in the sketches and reckonings in his mind, so all things came into being in accordance with the designs of what was to be, clearly laid down by God in wisdom. And we should add that having
created
, so to speak,
ensouled
wisdom, He left her to hand over, from the
types
which were in her, to things
existing
and to
matter
, the actual
emergence
of them, their moulding and their
forms.
But I consider, if it be permitted to say this, that the beginning (arche) of real existence was the Son of God, saying: Revelation 22:13I am the beginning and the end, the Α and the Ω, the first and the last. We must, however, remember that He is not the arche in respect of every name which is applied to Him. For how can He be the beginning in respect of His being life, when life came in the
Word
, and the
Word
is manifestly the arche of life? It is also tolerably evident that He cannot be the arche in respect of His being the first-born from the dead. And if we go through all His titles carefully we find that He is the arche only in respect of His being wisdom. Not even as the
Word
is He the arche, for the
Word
was in the arche. And so one might venture to say that wisdom is anterior to all the thoughts that are expressed in the titles of the first-born of every creature. Now
God
is altogether one and simple; but our
Saviour
, for many
reasons
, since
God
Romans 3:25 set Him forth a propitiation and a first fruits of the whole
creation
, is made many things, or perhaps all these things; the whole
creation
, so far as capable of redemption, stands in need of Him.
And, hence, He is made the light of men, because
men
, being darkened by wickedness, need the light that shines in darkness, and is not overtaken by the darkness; had not
men
been in darkness, He would not have become the light of
men
. The same thing may be observed in respect of His being the first-born of the dead. For supposing the woman had not been deceived, and Adam had not fallen, and man
created
for incorruption had obtained it, then He would not have descended into the grave, nor would He have died, there being no sin, nor would His love of
men
have required that He should die, and if He had not died, He could not have been the first-born of the dead. We may also ask whether He would ever have become a shepherd, had man not been thrown together with the beasts which are devoid of
reason
, and made like to them. For if
God
saves
man and beasts, He
saves
those beasts which He does
save
, by giving them a shepherd, since they cannot have a king. Thus if we
collect
the titles of Jesus, the question arises which of them were conferred on Him later, and would never have
assumed
such importance if the saints had begun and had also persevered in
blessedness
. Perhaps Wisdom would be the only remaining one, or perhaps the
Word
would remain too, or perhaps the Life, or perhaps the
Truth
, not the others, which He took for our sake. And happy indeed are those who in their need for the Son of God have yet become such persons as not to need Him in His
character
as a physician healing the sick, nor in that of a shepherd, nor in that of redemption, but only in His characters as wisdom, as the word and righteousness, or if there be any other title suitable for those who are so
perfect
as to receive Him in His fairest characters. So much for the phrase In the beginning.

23. The Title Word Is to Be Interpreted by the Same Method as the Other Titles of Christ. The Word of God is Not a Mere Attribute of God, But a Separate Person. What is Meant When He is Called the Word.

Let us consider, however, a little more carefully what is the
Word
which is in the beginning. I am often led to wonder when I consider the things that are said about
Christ
, even by those who are in earnest in their
belief
in Him. Though there is a countless number of names which can be applied to our
Saviour
, they omit the most of them, and if they should remember them, they declare that these titles are not to be understood in their proper sense, but
tropically
. But when they come to the title Logos (
Word
), and repeat that
Christ
alone is the Word of God, they are not consistent, and do not, as in the case of the other titles, search out what is behind the meaning of the term Word. I wonder at the stupidity of the general run of Christians in this
matter
. I do not
mince
matters; it is nothing but stupidity. The Son of God says in one passage, I am the light of the world, and in another, I am the
resurrection
, and again, I am the way and the truth and the life. It is also written, I am the door, and we have the saying, I am the
good
shepherd, and when the woman of Samaria says, We know the
Messiah is coming, who is called
Christ
; when He comes, He will tell us all things,
Jesus
answers, I that speak unto you am He. Again, when He washed the disciples' feet, He declared Himself in these words John 13:13 to be their
Master
and
Lord
: You call Me
Master
and
Lord
, and you say well, for so I am. He also distinctly announces Himself as the Son of God, when He says, John 10:36He whom the Father sanctified and sent unto the world, to Him do you say, You blaspheme, because I said, I am the Son of God? and John 17:1Father, the hour has come;
glorify
Your Son, that the Son also may
glorify
You. We also find Him declaring Himself to be a king, as when He answers Pilate's question, John 18:33, 36Are You the King of the Jews? by saying, My
kingdom
is not of this world; if My
kingdom
were of this world, then would My servants fight, that I should not be delivered to the Jews, but now is My
kingdom
not from hence. We have also read the words,
I am the true vine and My Father is the husbandman, and again, I am the vine, you are the branches. Add to these testimonies also the saying,
I am the bread of life, that came down from
heaven
and gives life to the world. These texts
will
suffice for the present, which we have picked up out of the storehouse of the Gospels, and in all of which He claims to be the Son of God. But in the
Apocalypse
of
John
, too, He says, Revelation 1:18I am the first and the last, and the living One, and I was dead. Behold, I am alive for evermore. And again, Revelation 22:13I am the Α and the Ω, and the first and the last, the beginning and the end. The careful student of the
sacred
books, moreover, may gather not a few similar passages from the prophets, as where He calls Himself Isaiah 49:2 a chosen shaft, and a servant of God,
and a light of the Gentiles. Isaiah 49:6
Isaiah
also says,
From my mother's womb has He called me by my name, and He made my mouth as a sharp sword, and under the shadow of His hand did He hide me, and He said to me, You are My servant, O Israel, and in you will I be glorified. And a little farther on: And my
God
shall be my strength, and He said to me, This is a great thing for you to be called My servant, to set up the tribes of
Jacob
and to turn again the
diaspora
of Israel. Behold I have set you for a light of the Gentiles, that you should be for salvation to the end of the earth. And in
Jeremiah
too Jeremiah 11:19 He likens Himself to a
lamb
, as thus: I was as a gentle
lamb
that is led to the
slaughter
. These and other similar sayings He applies to Himself. In addition to these one might
collect
in the Gospels and the
Apostles
and in the prophets a countless number of titles which are applied to the Son of God, as the writers of the Gospels set forth their own views of what He is, or the
Apostles
extol Him out of what they had learned, or the prophets proclaim in advance His coming
advent
and announce the things concerning Him under various names. Thus
John
calls Him the
Lamb
of God, saying, John 1:29Behold the
Lamb
of
God
which takes away the sins of the world, and in these words he declares Him as a man, John 1:30-31This is He about whom I said, that there comes after me a man who is there before me; for He was before me. And in his Catholic Epistle
John
says that He is a
Paraclete
for our souls with the Father, as thus:
And if any one sin, we have a
Paraclete
with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous, and he adds that He is a propitiation for our sins, and similarly Paul says He is a propitiation:
Whom
God
set forth as a propitiation through faith in His blood, on account of forgiveness of the
forepast sins, in the forbearance of God. According to Paul, too, He is declared to be the wisdom and the power of God, as in the
Epistle
to the
Corinthians
:
Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. It is added that He is also sanctification and
redemption
: He was made to us of God, he says, wisdom and righteousness and sanctification and
redemption
. But he also teaches us, writing to the
Hebrews
, that Christ is a
High-Priest
: Hebrews 4:14Having, therefore, a great
High-Priest
, who has passed through the heavens,
Jesus
the Son of God, let us hold
fast
our profession. And the prophets have other names for Him besides these.
Jacob
in his
blessing
of his sons Genesis 49:10 says, Judah, your brethren shall extol you; your hands are on the necks of your enemies. A lion's cub is
Judah
, from a shoot, my son, are you sprung up; you have lain down and slept as a lion; who shall awaken him? We cannot now linger over these phrases, to show that what is said of
Judah
applies to Christ. What may be quoted against this view, viz., A ruler shall not part from
Judah
nor a leader from his loins, until He come for whom it is reserved; this can better be cleared up on another occasion.
But
Isaiah
knows
Christ
to be spoken of under the names of
Jacob
and Israel, when he says, Isaiah 42:1-4Jacob is my servant, I will help Him; Israel is my
elect
, my soul has accepted Him. He shall declare
judgment
to the Gentiles. He shall not strive nor cry, neither shall any one hear His voice on the streets. A bruised rod shall He not break, and smoking flax shall He not quench, till He bring forth
judgment
from victory, and in His name shall the nations
hope
. That it is
Christ
about whom such
prophecies
are made,
Matthew
shows in his Gospel, where he quotes from memory and says:
That the saying might be fulfilled, He shall not strive nor cry, etc.
David
also is called
Christ
, as where
Ezekiel
in his prophecy to the shepherds adds as from the mouth of
God
: Ezekiel 34:23I
will
raise up
David
my servant, who shall be their shepherd. For it is not the
patriarch
David
who is to
rise
and be the shepherd of the saints, but
Christ
.
Isaiah
also called
Christ
the rod and the flower: Isaiah 11:1-3There shall come forth a rod out of the root of Jesse, and a flower shall spring out of this root, and the
spirit
of
God
shall rest upon Him, the
spirit
of wisdom and understanding, the
spirit
of counsel and of might, the
spirit
of knowledge and of godliness, and He shall be full of the
spirit
of the fear of the
Lord
. And in the
Psalms
our
Lord
is called the stone, as follows:
The stone which the builders rejected is made the head of the corner. It is from the
Lord
, and it is wonderful in our eyes. And the Gospel shows, as also does
Luke
in the
Acts
, that the stone is no other than
Christ
; the Gospel as follows: Matthew 21:42, 44Have ye never read, the stone which the builders rejected is made the head of the corner. Whosoever falls on this stone shall be broken, but on whomsoever it shall fall, it will scatter him as dust. And
Luke
writes in
Acts
: Acts 4:11This is the stone, which was set at naught of you the builders, which has become the head of the corner. And one of the names applied to the
Saviour
is that which He Himself does not utter, but which
John
records
—the
Word
who was in the beginning with God, God the Word. And it is worth our while to fix our attention for a moment on those scholars who omit consideration of most of the great names we have mentioned and regard this as the most important one. As to the former titles, they look for any account of them that any one may
offer
, but in the case of this one they proceed differently and ask, What is the Son of God when called the
Word
? The passage they employ most is that in the Psalms,
My heart has produced a
good
Word
; and they imagine the Son of God to be the utterance of the Father deposited, as it were, in syllables, and accordingly they do not allow Him, if we examine them farther, any independent hypostasis, nor are they clear about His essence. I do not mean that they confuse its
qualities
, but the fact of His having an essence of His own. For no one can understand how that which is said to be Word can be a Son. And such an animated
Word
, not being a separate entity from the Father, and accordingly as it, having no subsistence. is not a Son, or if he is a Son, let them say that God the Word is a separate being and has an essence of His own. We insist, therefore, that as in the case of each of the titles spoken of above we turn from the title to the concept it suggests and apply it and demonstrate how the Son of God is suitably described by it, the same course must be followed when we find Him called the
Word
. What caprice it is, in all these cases, not to stand upon the term employed, but to enquire in what sense
Christ
is to be understood to be the door, and in what way the vine, and why He is the way; but in the one case of His being called the
Word
, to follow a different course. To add to the authority, therefore, of what we have to say on the question, how the Son of God is the
Word
, we must begin with those names of which we spoke first as being applied to Him. This, we cannot deny,
will
seem to some to be superfluous and a digression, but the thoughtful reader will not think it useless to ask as to the concepts for which the titles are used; to observe these matters
will
clear the way for what is coming. And once we have entered upon the
theology
concerning the Saviour, as we seek with what diligence we can and find the various things that are taught about Him, we shall
necessarily
understand more about Him not only in His
character
as the
Word
, but in His other characters also.

24. Christ as Light; How He, and How His Disciples are the Light of the World.

He said, then, that He was the light of the world; and we have to examine, along with this title, those which are parallel to it; and, indeed, are thought by some to be not merely parallel, but identical with
it. He is the true light, and the light of the Gentiles. In the opening of the Gospel now before us He is the light of
men
: That which was made,John 1:3-5 it says, was life in Him, and the life was the light of
men
; and the light shines in darkness, and the darkness did not overtake it. A little further on, in the same passage, He is called the true light: John 1:9The true light, which lightens every man, was coming into the world. In
Isaiah
, He is the light of the Gentiles, as we said before. Behold, Isaiah 49:6 I have set You for a light of the Gentiles, that You should be for salvation to the end of the earth. Now the sensible light of the world is the sun, and after it comes very worthily the moon, and the same title may be applied to the stars; but those lights of the world are said in Moses to have come into existence on the fourth day, and as they shed light on the things on the earth, they are not the true light. But the
Saviour
shines on creatures which have intellect and sovereign
reason
, that their
minds
may behold their proper objects of
vision
, and so he is the light of the
intellectual
world, that is to say, of the reasonable souls which are in the sensible world, and if there be any beings beyond these in the world from which He declares Himself to be our
Saviour
. He is, indeed, the most determining and distinguished part of that world, and, as we may say, the sun who makes the great day of the
Lord
. In view of this day He says to those who partake of His light, Work John 9:4-5 while it is day; the night comes when no man can work. As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world. Then He says to His disciples,
You are the light of the world, and Let your light shine before
men
. Thus we see the Church, the bride, to present an analogy to the moon and stars, and the disciples have a light, which is their own or borrowed from the true sun, so that they are able to illuminate those who have no command of any spring of light in themselves. We may say that Paul and
Peter
are the light of the world, and that those of their disciples who are enlightened themselves, but are not able to enlighten others, are the world of which the
Apostles
were the light. But the Saviour, being the light of the world, illuminates not bodies, but by His incorporeal power the incorporeal intellect, to the end that each of us, enlightened as by the sun, may be able to discern the rest of the things of the
mind
. And as when the sun is shining the moon and the stars lose their power of giving light, so those who are irradiated by
Christ
and receive His beams have no need of the
ministering
apostles and prophets— we must have courage to declare this truth— nor of the angels; I will add that they have no need even of the greater powers when they are disciples of that first-born light. To those who do not receive the solar beams of Christ, the
ministering
saints do afford an illumination much less than the former; this illumination is as much as those persons can receive, and it completely fills them.
Christ
, again, the light of the world, is the true light as distinguished from the light of sense; nothing that is sensible is true. Yet though the sensible is other than the true, it does not follow that the sensible is
false
, for the sensible may have an analogy with the
intellectual
, and not everything that is not true can correctly be called
false
. Now I ask whether the light of the world is the same thing with the light of men, and I conceive that a higher power of light is
intended
by the former phrase than by the latter, for the world in one sense is not only
men
. Paul shows that the world is something more than
men
when he writes to the
Corinthians
in his first
Epistle
: 1 Corinthians 4:9We are made a spectacle unto the world, and to angels, and to
men
. In one sense, too, it may be considered,
the world is the
creation
which is being delivered from the
bondage
of corruption into the liberty of the glory of the children of God, whose earnest expectation is waiting for the manifestation of the sons of God. We also draw attention to the comparison which may be drawn between the statement, I am the light of the world, and the words addressed to the disciples, You are the light of the world. Some suppose that the genuine disciples of Jesus are greater than other creatures, some seeking the
reason
of this in the
natural
growth of these disciples, others inferring it from their harder struggle. For those beings which are in flesh and blood have greater labours and a life more full of dangers than those which are in an ethereal body, and the lights of
heaven
might not, if they had put on bodies of earth, have accomplished this life of ours free from danger and from error. Those who incline to this argument may
appeal
to those texts of
Scripture
which say the most exalted things about
men
, and to the fact that the Gospel is addressed directly to
men
; not so much is said about the
creation
, or, as we understand it, about the
world. We read, John 17:21As I and Thou are one, that they also may be one in Us, and
Where I am, there will also My servant be. These sayings, plainly, are about
men
; while about the
creation
it is said that it is delivered from the
bondage
of corruption into the liberty of the glory of the children of God. It might be added that not even when it is delivered
will
it take part in the glory of the sons of God. Nor
will
those who hold this view forget that the first-born of every creature,
honouring
man above all else, became man, and that it was not any of the constellations
existing
in the sky, but one of another order, appointed for this purpose and in the service of the knowledge of Jesus, that was made to be the
Star
of the East, whether it was like the other stars or perchance better than they, to be the sign of Him who is the most excellent of all. And if the boasting of the saints is in their tribulations, since Romans 5:3-5tribulation works patience, and patience probation, and probation
hope
, and
hope
makes not ashamed, then the afflicted
creation
cannot have the like patience with man, nor the like probation, nor the like
hope
, but another degree of these, since Romans 8:20the
creation
was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but on account of Him who subjected it, for
hope
. Now he who shrinks from conferring such great
attributes
on man
will
turn to another direction and say that the creature being subjected to vanity groans and suffers greater affliction than those who groan in this
tabernacle
, for has she not suffered for the utmost extent of
time
in her service of vanity— nay, many times as long as man? For why does she do this not willingly, but that it is against her
nature
to be subject to vanity, and not to have the best arrangement of her life, that which she shall receive when she is set free, when the world is destroyed and released even from the vanity of bodies. Here, however, we may appear to be stretching too far, and aiming at more than the question now before us requires. We may return, therefore, to the point from which we set out, and ask for what
reason
the
Saviour
is called the light of the world, the true light, and the light of
men
. Now we saw that He is called the true light with reference to the sensible light of the world, and that the light of the world is the same thing as the light of men, or that we may at least enquire whether they are the same. This discussion is not superfluous. Some students do not take anything at all out of the statement that the
Saviour
is the
Word
; and it is important for us to assure ourselves that we are not chargeable with caprice in fixing our attention on that notion. If it admits of being taken in a metaphorical sense we ought not to take it literally.
When we apply the
mystical
and allegorical method to the expression light of the world and the many analogous terms mentioned above, we should surely do so with this expression also.

25. Christ as the Resurrection.

Now He is called the light of men and the true light and the light of the word, because He
brightens
and
irradiates
the higher parts of men, or, in a word, of all reasonable beings. And similarly it is from and because of the energy with which He
causes
the old deadness to be put aside and that which is par
excellence
life to be put on, so that those who have truly received Him
rise
again from the dead, that He is called the
resurrection
. And this He does not only at the moment at which a man says, Romans 6:4We are
buried
with
Christ
through baptism and have
risen
again with Him, but much rather when a man, having laid off all about him that belongs to death, walks in the newness of life which belongs to Him, the Son, while here. We always 2 Corinthians 4:10carry about in our body the dying of the Lord Jesus, and thus we reap the vast advantage, that the life of the
Lord
Jesus
might be made manifest in our bodies.

26. Christ as the Way.

But that progress too, which is in wisdom and which is found by those who seek their salvation in it to do for them what they require both in respect of exposition of truth in the divine word and in respect of conduct according to true righteousness, it lets us understand how
Christ
is the way. In this way we have to take nothing with us, Matthew 10:10 neither wallet nor coat; we must travel without even a stick, nor must we have shoes on our feet. For this road is itself sufficient for all the supplies of our journey; and every one who walks on it wants nothing. He is clad with a garment which is fit for one who is setting out in response to an invitation to a wedding; and on this road he cannot meet anything that can annoy him. No one,
Solomon
says, Proverbs 30:19can find out the way of a
serpent
upon a
rock. I would add, or that of any other beast. Hence there is no need of a staff on this road, on which there is no trace of any hostile creature, and the hardness of which, whence also it is called rock (petra), makes it incapable of
harbouring
anything hurtful.

27. Christ as the Truth.

Further, the Only-begotten is the truth, because He embraces in Himself according to the Father's
will
the whole
reason
of all things, and that with
perfect
clearness, and being the truth communicates to each creature in proportion to its worthiness. And should any one enquire whether all that the Father knows, according to the depth of His
riches
and His wisdom and His knowledge, is known to our
Saviour
also, and should he,
imagining
that he will thereby
glorify
the Father, show that some things known to the Father are unknown to the Son, although He might have had an equal share of the apprehensions of the unbegotten God, we must remind him that it is from His being the truth that He is
Saviour
, and add that if He is the truth complete, then there is nothing true which He does not know; truth must not
limp
for the want of the things which, according to those persons, are known to the Father only. Or else let it be shown that some things are known to which the name of truth does not apply, but which are above the truth.

28. Christ as Life.

It is clear also that the principle of that life which is pure and unmixed with any other element, resides in Him who is the first-born of all
creation
, taking from which those who have a share in
Christ
live the life which is true life, while all those who are thought to live apart from this, as they have not the true light, have not the true life either.

29. Christ as the Door and as the Shepherd.

But as one cannot be in the Father or with the Father except by
ascending
from below upwards and coming first to the divinity of the Son, through which one may be led by the hand and brought to the
blessedness
of the Father Himself, so the
Saviour
has the
inscription
The Door. And as He is a lover of men, and approves the impulse of humansouls to better things, even of those who do not hasten to
reason
(the Logos), but like sheep have a weakness and gentleness apart from all accuracy and
reason
, so He is the
Shepherd
. For the
Lord
saves
men
and beasts,
and Israel and
Juda
are sowed with the seed not of
men
only but also of beasts. Jeremiah 31:27

30. Christ as Anointed (Christ) and as King.

In addition to these titles we must consider at the outset of our work that of Christ, and we must also consider that of King, and compare these two so as to find out the difference between them. Now it is said in the forty-fourth
Psalm
,
You have
loved
righteousness and hated
iniquity
, whence You are
anointed
(
Christ
) above Your fellows. His
loving
righteousness and
hating
iniquity
were thus added claims in Him; His
anointing
was not contemporary with His being nor inherited by Him from the first.
Anointing
is a symbol of entering on the kingship, and sometimes also on the priesthood; and must we therefore conclude that the kingship of the Son of God is not inherited nor congenital to Him? But how is it conceivable that the
First-born
of all
creation
was not a king and became a king afterwards because He
loved
righteousness, when, moreover, He Himself was righteousness? We cannot fail to see that it is as a man that He is
Christ
, in respect of His soul, which was human and liable to be troubled and sore vexed, but that He is conceived as king in respect of the divine in Him. I find support for this in the
seventy-first
Psalm
,
which says, Give the king Your
judgment
, O God, and Your righteousness to the king's Son, to
judge
Your people in righteousness and Your
poor
in
judgment
. This
Psalm
, though addressed to
Solomon
, is evidently a prophecy of Christ, and it is worth while to ask to what king the prophecy desires
judgment
to be given by God, and to what king's Son, and what king's righteousness is spoken of. I conceive, then, that what is called the King is the leading
nature
of the
First-born
of all
creation
, to which
judgment
is given on account of its eminence; and that the man whom He
assumed
, formed and moulded by that
nature
, according to righteousness, is the King's Son. I am the more led to think that this is so, because the two beings are here brought together in one sentence, and are spoken of as if they were not two but one. For the
Saviour
made both one, Ephesians 2:14 that is, He made them according to the prototype of the two which had been made one in Himself before all things. The two I refer to humannature, since each
man's
soul is
mixed with the Holy Spirit, and each of those who are
saved
is thus made
spiritual
. Now as there are some to whom
Christ
is a shepherd, as we said before, because of their meek and composed
nature
, though they are less guided by
reason
; so there are those to whom He is a king, those, namely, who are led in their approach to
religion
rather by the reasonable part of their
nature
. And among those who are under a king there are differences; some experience his rule in a more
mystic
and hidden and more divine way, others in a less
perfect
fashion. I should say that those who, led by
reason
, apart from all agencies of sense, have beheld incorporeal things, the things which Paul speaks of as invisible, or not seen, that they are ruled by the leading
nature
of the Only-begotten, but that those who have only advanced as far as the
reason
which is conversant with sensible things, and on account of these
glorify
their
Maker
, that these also are governed by the
Word
, by
Christ
. No offense need be taken at our distinguishing these notions in the
Saviour
; we draw the same distinctions in His
substance
.

31. Christ as Teacher and Master.

It is plain to all how our
Lord
is a teacher and an interpreter for those who are striving towards godliness, and on the other hand a master of those servants who have the
spirit
of
bondage
to fear, Romans 8:15 who make progress and hasten towards wisdom, and are found worthy to possess it. For
the servant knows not what the master
wills
, since he is no longer his master, but has become his friend. The
Lord
Himself teaches this, for He says to hearers who were still servants: John 13:13You call Me
Master
and
Lord
, and you say well, for so I am, but in another passage, John 15:15I call you no longer servants, for the servant knows not what is the will of his master, but I call you friends, because Luke 22:28you have continued with Me in all My temptations. They, then, who live according to fear, which God exacts from those who are not
good
servants, as we read in
Malachi
,
If I am a
Master
, where is My fear? are servants of a master who is called their
Saviour
.

32. Christ as Son.

None of these testimonies, however, sets forth distinctly the
Saviour's
exalted birth; but when the words are addressed to Him, You are My Son, this day have I begotten You,
this is spoken to Him by God, with whom all
time
is today, for there is no evening with God, as I consider, and there is no morning, nothing but
time
that stretches out, along with His unbeginning and unseen life. The day is today with Him in which the Son was begotten, and thus the beginning of His birth is not found, as neither is the day of it.

33. Christ the True Vine, and as Bread.

To what we have said must be added how the Son is the true vine. Those will have no difficulty in apprehending this who understand, in a manner worthy of the
prophetic
grace, the saying:
Wine makes glad the heart of man. For if the heart be the
intellectual
part, and what rejoices it is the
Word
most pleasant of all to drink which takes us off human things, makes us feel ourselves
inspired
, and
intoxicates
us with an intoxication which is not irrational but divine, that, I conceive, with which
Joseph
made his brethren
merry
, Genesis 43:34 then it is very clear how He who brings
wine
thus to rejoice the heart of man is the true vine. He is the true vine, because the grapes He bears are the truth, the disciples are His branches, and they, also, bring forth the truth as their fruit. It is somewhat difficult to show the difference between the vine and bread, for He says, not only that He is the vine, but that He is the bread of life. May it be that as bread nourishes and makes strong, and is said to strengthen the heart of man, but
wine
, on the contrary, pleases and rejoices and melts him, so
ethical
studies, bringing life to him who learns them and reduces them to practice, are the bread of life, but cannot properly be called the fruit of the vine, while secret and
mystical
speculations, rejoicing the heart and
causing
those to feel
inspired
who take them in, delighting in the Lord, and who desire not only to be nourished but to be made happy, are called the juice of the true vine, because they flow from it.

34. Christ as the First and the Last; He is Also What Lies Between These.

Further, we have to ask in what sense He is called in the
Apocalypse
the First and the Last, and how, in His
character
as the First, He is not the same as the
Alpha
and the beginning, while in His
character
as the Last He is not the same as the
Omega
and the end. It appears to me, then, that the reasonable
beings which
exist
are characterized by many
forms
, and that some of them are the first, some the second, some the third, and so on to the last. To pronounce exactly, however, which is the first, what kind of a being the second is, which may truly be designated third, and to carry this out to the end of the series, this is not a task for man, but transcends our
nature
. We shall yet venture, such as we are, to stand still a little at this point, and to make some observations on the
matter
. There are some gods of whom
God
is god, as we hear in prophecy,
Thank ye the God of gods, and
The
God
of gods has spoken, and called the earth. Now God, according to the Gospel, Matthew 20:2is not the God of the dead but of the living. Those gods, then, are living of whom
God
is god. The
Apostle
, too, writing to the
Corinthians
, says: 1 Corinthians 8:5As there are gods many and lords many, and so we have spoken of these gods as really
existing
. Now there are, besides the gods of whom
God
is god,
certain
others, who are called thrones, and others called dominions,
lordships
, also, and powers in addition to these. The phrase, Ephesians 1:21above every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come, leads us to believe that there are yet others besides these which are less familiar to us; one kind of these the
Hebrews
called
Sabai, from which
Sabaoth
was formed, who is their ruler, and is none other than
God
. Add to all these the reasonable being who is mortal, man. Now the God of all things made first in honour some race of reasonable beings; this I consider to be those who are called gods, and the second order, let us say, for the present, are the thrones, and the third, undoubtedly, the dominions. And thus we come down in order to the last reasonable race, which, perhaps, cannot be any other than man. The
Saviour
accordingly became, in a
diviner
way than Paul, all things to all, that He might either gain all or
perfect
them; it is clear that to
men
He became a man, and to the angels an angel. As for His becoming man no
believer
has any doubt, but as to His becoming an angel, we shall find
reason
for
believing
it was so, if we observe carefully the appearances and the words of the angels, in some of which the powers of the angels seem to belong to Him. In several passages angels speak in such a way as to suggest this, as when
the angel of the
Lord
appeared in a flame of fire. And he said, I am the God of Abraham and of
Isaac
and of
Jacob
. But
Isaiah
also says: Isaiah 9:6His name is called
Angel
of Great Counsel. The
Saviour
, then, is the first and the last, not that He is not what
lies
between, but the extremities are named to show that He became all things. Consider, however, whether the last is man, or the things said to be under the earth, of which are the demons, all of them or some. We must ask, too, about those things which the
Saviour
became which He speaks of through the prophet
David
,
And I became as a man without any to help him, free among the dead. His birth from the
Virgin
and His life so admirably lived showed Him to be more than man, and it was the same among the dead. He was the only free
person
there, and His soul was not left in hell. Thus, then, He is the first and the last. Again, if there be letters of God, as such there are, by reading which the saints may say they have read what is written on the tablets of
heaven
, these letters, by which
heavenly
things are to be read, are the notions, divided into small parts, into Α and so on to Ω, the Son of God. Again, He is the beginning and the end, but He is this not in all His aspects equally. For He is the beginning, as the
Proverbs
teach us, inasmuch as He is wisdom; it is written: The
Lord
founded Me in the beginning of His ways, for His works. In the respect of His being the Logos He is not the beginning. The
Word
was in the beginning. Thus in His aspects one comes first and is the beginning, and there is a second after the beginning, and a third, and so on to the end, as if He had said, I am the beginning. inasmuch as I am wisdom, and the second, perhaps, inasmuch as I am invisible, and the third in that I am life, for what was made was life in Him. One who was qualified to examine and to discern the sense of
Scripture
might, no doubt, find many members of the series; I cannot say if he could find them all. The beginning and the end is a phrase we usually apply to a thing that is a completed
unity
; the beginning of a house is its foundation and the end the
parapet
. We cannot but think of this figure, since
Christ
is the stone which is the head of the corner, to the great
unity
of the body of the
saved
. For
Christ
the only-begotten Son is all and in all, He is as the beginning in the man He
assumed
, He is present as the end in the last of the saints, and He is also in those between, or else He is present
as the beginning in
Adam
, as the end in His life on earth, according to the saying: The last Adam was made a quickening
spirit
. This saying harmonizes well with the interpretation we have given of the first and the last.

35. Christ as the Living and the Dead.

In what has been said about the first and the last, and about the beginning and the end, we have referred these words at one point to the different
forms
of reasonable beings, at another to the different conceptions of the Son of God. Thus we have gained a distinction between the first and the beginning, and between the last and the end, and also the distinctive meaning of Α and Ω . It is not hard to see why he is called Revelation 1:17-18the
Living
and the Dead, and after being dead He that is alive for evermore. For since we were not helped by His original life, sunk as we were in sin, He came down into our deadness in order that, He having died to sin, we, 2 Corinthians 4:10 bearing about in our body the dying of
Jesus
. might then receive that life of His which is for evermore. For those who always carry about in their body the dying of Jesus shall obtain the life of Jesus also, manifested in their bodies.

36. Christ as a Sword.

The texts of the New Testament, which we have discussed, are things said by Himself about Himself.
Isaiah
, however, He said Isaiah 49:2-3 that His mouth had been set by His Father as a sharp sword, and that He was hidden under the shadow of His hand, made like to a chosen shaft and kept close in the Father's quiver, called His servant by the God of all things, and Israel, and Light of the Gentiles. The mouth of the Son of God is a sharp sword, for Hebrews 4:12The word of
God
is living, and active, and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing to the dividing of soul and
spirit
, of both joints and marrow, and quick to discern the thoughts and intents of the heart. And indeed He came not to bring peace on the earth, that is, to corporeal and sensible things, but a sword, and to cut through, if I may say so, the disastrous friendship of soul and body, so that the soul, committing herself to the
spirit
which was against the flesh, may enter into friendship with God. Hence, according to the
prophetic
word, He made His mouth as a sword, as a sharp sword. Can any one behold so many wounded by the divine love, like her in the Song of Songs, who complained that she was wounded: Song of Songs 2:5I am wounded with love, and find the dart that wounded so many souls for the love of God, in any but Him who said, He has made Me as a chosen shaft.

37. Christ as a Servant, as the Lamb of God, and as the Man Whom John Did Not Know.

Again, let any one consider how
Jesus
was to His disciples, not as He who sits at meat, but as He who serves, and how though the Son of God He took on Him the
form
of a servant for the sake of the freedom of those who were enslaved in sin, and he will be at no loss to account for the Father's saying to Him:
You are My servant, and a little further on: It is a great thing that you should be called My servant. For we do not hesitate to say that the
goodness
of
Christ
appears in a greater and more divine light, and more according to the image of the Father, because Philippians 2:6, 8He
humbled
Himself, becoming obedient unto death, even the death of the cross, than if He had
judged
it a thing to be grasped to be equal with God, and had shrunk from becoming a servant for the salvation of the world. Hence He says, Isaiah 49:5-6 desiring to teach us that in accepting this state of servitude He had received a great
gift
from His Father: And My
God
shall be My strength. And He said to Me, It is a great thing for You to be called My servant. For if He had not become a servant, He would not have
raised
up the tribes of
Jacob
, nor have turned the heart of the
diaspora
of Israel, and neither would He have become a light of the Gentiles to be for salvation to the ends of the earth. And it is no great thing for Him to become a servant, even if it is called a great thing by His Father, for this is in comparison with His being called with an innocent sheep and with a
lamb
. For the
Lamb
of
God
became like an innocent sheep being led to the
slaughter
, that He may take away the sin of the world. He who supplies
reason
(λογος) to all is made like a
lamb
which is dumb before her shearer, that we might be purified by His death, which is given as a sort of medicine against the opposing power, and also against the sin of those who open their
minds
to the truth. For the death of
Christ
reduced to impotence those powers which war against the human race, and it set free
from sin by a power beyond our words the life of each
believer
. Since, then, He takes away sin until every enemy shall be destroyed and death last of all, in order that the whole world may be free from sin, therefore
John
points to Him and says: John 1:29Behold the
Lamb
of
God
which takes away the sin of the world. It is not said that He will take it away in the future, nor that He is at present taking it, nor that He has taken it, but is not taking it away now. His taking away sin is still going on, He is taking it away from every
individual
in the world, till sin be taken away from the whole world, and the
Saviour
deliver the
kingdom
prepared and completed to the Father, a
kingdom
in which no sin is left at all, and which, therefore, is ready to accept the Father as its king, and which on the other hand is waiting to receive all
God
has to bestow, fully, and in every part, at that
time
when the saying 1 Corinthians 5:28 is fulfilled, That
God
may be all in all. Further, we hear of a man who is said to be coming after
John
, who was made before him and was before him. This is to teach us that the man also of the Son of God, the man who was mixed with His divinity, was older than His birth from
Mary
.
John
says he does not know this man, but must he not have known Him when he leapt for joy when yet a babe unborn in Elisabeth's womb, as soon as the voice of
Mary's
salutation sounded in the ears of the wife of
Zacharias
? Consider, therefore, if the words I know Him not may have reference to the period before the bodily existence. Though he did not know Him before He
assumed
His body, yet he knew Him when yet in his mother's womb, and perhaps he is here learning something new about Him beyond what was known to him before, namely, that on whomsoever the Holy Spirit shall descend and abide on him, that is he who is to baptize with the Holy Spirit and with fire. He knew him from his mother's womb, but not all about Him. He did not know perhaps that this is He who
baptizes
with the Holy Spirit and with fire, when he saw the
Spirit
descending and abiding on Him. Yet that He was indeed a man, and the first man,
John
did not know.

38. Christ as Paraclete, as Propitiation, and as the Power of God.

But none of the names we have mentioned expresses His representation of us with the Father, as He pleads for humannature, and makes
atonement
for it; the
Paraclete
, and the propitiation, and the
atonement
. He has the name
Paraclete
in the
Epistle
of
John
: 1 John 2:1-2If any man sin, we have a
Paraclete
with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. And He is said in the same
epistle
to be the
atonement
for our sins. Similarly, in the
Epistle
to the
Romans
, He is called a propitiation:
Whom
God
set forth to be a propitiation through faith. Of this proportion there was a
type
in the inmost part of the
temple
, the
Holy
of Holies, namely, the golden mercy-seat placed upon the two cherubim. But how could He ever be the
Paraclete
, and the
atonement
, and the propitiation without the power of God, which makes an end of our weakness, flows over the souls of believers, and is administered by
Jesus
, who indeed is prior to it and Himself the power of God, who enables a man to say: Philippians 4:13I can do all things through Jesus Christ who strengthens me. Whence we know that Simon Magus, who gave himself the title of The power of God, which is called great, was consigned to perdition and destruction, he and his money with him. We, on the contrary, who
confess
Christ
as the true power of God, believe that we share with Him, inasmuch as He is that power, all things in which any energy resides.

39. Christ as Wisdom and Sanctification and Redemption.

We must not, however, pass over in silence that He is of right the wisdom of God, and hence is called by that name. For the wisdom of the
God
and Father of all things does not apprehend His
substance
in mere visions, like the phantasms of human thoughts. Whoever is able to conceive a bodiless existence of manifold speculations which extend to the rationale of
existing
things, living and, as it were,
ensouled
, he will see how well the Wisdom of
God
which is above every creature speaks of herself, when she says: Proverbs 8:22God
created
me the beginning of His ways, for His works. By this
creating
act
the whole
creation
was enabled to
exist
, not being
unreceptive
of that divine wisdom according to which it was brought into being; for God, according to the prophet
David
,
made all things in wisdom. But many things came into being by the help of wisdom, which do not
lay
hold of that by which they were
created
: and few things indeed there are which
lay
hold not only of that wisdom which concerns
themselves, but of that which has to do with many things besides, namely, of
Christ
who is the whole of wisdom. But each of the sages, in proportion as he embraces wisdom, partakes to that extent of Christ, in that He is wisdom;
just
as every one who is greatly
gifted
with power, in proportion as he has power, in that proportion also has a share in Christ, inasmuch as He is power. The same is to be thought about sanctification and
redemption
; for
Jesus
Himself is made sanctification to us and
redemption
. Each of us is sanctified with that sanctification, and
redeemed
with that
redemption
. Consider, moreover, if the words to us, added by the
Apostle
, have any special force.
Christ
, he says, was made to us of God, wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and
redemption
. In other passages, he speaks about
Christ
as being wisdom, without any such qualification, and of His being power, saying that Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God, though we might have conceived that He was not the wisdom of
God
or the power of God, absolutely, but only for us. Now, in respect of wisdom and power, we have both
forms
of the statement, the relative and the absolute; but in respect of sanctification and
redemption
, this is not the case. Consider, therefore, since Hebrews 2:11He that sanctifies and they that are sanctified are all of one, whether the Father is the sanctification of Him who is our sanctification, as,
Christ
being our head,
God
is His head. But
Christ
is our
redemption
because we had become prisoners and needed ransoming. I do not enquire as to His own
redemption
, for though He was
tempted
in all things as we are, He was without sin, and His enemies never reduced Him to
captivity
.

40. Christ as Righteousness; As the Demiurge, the Agent of the Good God, and as High-Priest.

Having
expiscated the to us and the absolutely— sanctification and
redemption
being to us and not absolute, wisdom and
redemption
both to us and
absolute
— we must not omit to enquire into the position of righteousness in the same passage. That
Christ
is righteousness relatively to us appears clearly from the words: Who was made to us of
God
wisdom and righteousness and sanctification and
redemption
. And if we do not find Him to be righteousness absolutely as He is the wisdom and the power of
God
absolutely, then we must enquire whether to
Christ
Himself, as the Father is sanctification, so the Father is also righteousness. There is, we know, no unrighteousness with God; John 7:18 He is a righteous and holy
Lord
, Revelation 16:5, 7 and His judgments are in righteousness, and being righteous, He orders all things righteously.

The heretics drew a distinction for purposes of their own between the
just
and the
good
. They did not make the
matter
very clear, but they considered that the demiurge was
just
, while the Father of Christ was
good
. That distinction may, I think, if carefully examined, be applied to the Father and the Son; the Son being righteousness, and having received power John 5:27 to execute
judgment
, because He is the Son of Man and
will
judge
the world in righteousness, but the Father doing
good
to those who have been
disciplined
by the righteousness of the Son. This is after the
kingdom
of the Son; then the Father
will
manifest in His works His name the Good, when
God
becomes all in all. And perhaps by His righteousness the
Saviour
prepares everything at the fit times, and by His word, by His ordering, by His chastisements, and, if I may use such an expression, by His
spiritual
healing aids, disposes all things to receive at the end the
goodness
of the Father. It was from His sense of that
goodness
that He answered him who addressed the Only-begotten with the words Good
Master
,Hebrews 2:9 and said, Why do you call Me
good
? None is
good
but one, God, the Father. This we have treated of elsewhere, especially in dealing with the question of the greater than the demiurge;
Christ
we have taken to be the demiurge, and the Father the greater than He. Such great things, then, He is, the
Paraclete
, the
atonement
, the propitiation, the
sympathizer with our weaknesses, who was
tempted
in all human things, as we are, without sin; and in consequence He is a great
High-Priest
, having
offered
Himself as the sacrifice which is
offered
once for all, and not for
men
only but for every
rational
creature. For without
God
He tasted death for every one. In some copies of the
Epistle
to the
Hebrews
the words are by the grace of God. Now, whether He tasted death for every one without God, He died not for
men
only but for all other
intellectual
beings too, or whether He tasted death for every one by the grace of God, He died for all without
God, for by the grace of
God
He tasted death for every one. It would surely be absurd to say that He tasted death for humansins and not for any other being besides man which had fallen into sin, as for example for the stars. For not even the stars are clean in the eyes of God, as we read in
Job
, Job 25:5The stars are not clean in His sight, unless this is to be regarded as a hyperbole. Hence he is a great
High-Priest
, since He restores all things to His Father's
kingdom
, and arranges that whatever defects
exist
in each part of
creation
shall be filled up so as to be full of the glory of the Father. This
High-Priest
is called, from some other notion of him than those we have noticed,
Judas
, that those who are Jews secretly Romans 2:29 may take the name of
Jew
not from
Judah
, son of
Jacob
, but from Him, since they are His brethren, and praise Him for the freedom they have attained. For it is He who sets them free,
saving
them from their enemies on whose backs He lays His hand to subdue them. When He has put under His feet the opposing power, and is alone in presence of His Father, then He is
Jacob
and Israel; and thus as we are made light by Him, since He is the light of the world, so we are made
Jacob
since He is called
Jacob
, and Israel since He is called Israel.

41. Christ as the Rod, the Flower, the Stone.

Now He receives the
kingdom
from the king whom the children of Israel appointed, beginning the monarchy not at the divine command and without even consulting
God
. He therefore fights the battles of the
Lord
and so prepares peace for His Son, His people, and this perhaps is the
reason
why He is called
David
. Then He is called a rod; Isaiah 11:1 such He is to those who need a harder and severer
discipline
, and have not submitted to the love and gentleness of God. On this account, if He is a rod, He has to go forth; He does not remain in Himself, but appears to go beyond His earlier state. Going forth, then, and becoming a rod, He does not remain a rod, but after the rod He becomes a flower that
rises
up, and after being a rod He is made known as a flower to those who, by His being a rod, have met with
visitation
. For God
will
visit their
iniquities
with a rod,
that is,
Christ
. But His mercy He will not take from him, for He will have mercy on him, for on whom the Son has mercy the Father has mercy also. An interpretation may be given which makes Him a rod and a flower in respect of different persons, a rod to those who have need of chastisement, a flower to those who are being
saved
; but I prefer the account of the
matter
given above. We must add here, however, that, perhaps, looking to the end, if
Christ
is a rod to any man He is also a flower to him, while it is not the case that he who receives Him as a flower must also know Him as a rod. And yet as one flower is more
perfect
than another and plants are said to flower, even though they bring forth no
perfect
fruit, so the
perfect
receive that of
Christ
which transcends the flower. Those, on the other hand, who have known Him as a rod
will
partake along with it, not in His
perfection
, but in the flower which comes before the fruit. Last of all, before we come to the word Logos,
Christ
was a stone,
set at naught by the builders but placed on the head of the corner, for the living stones are built up as on a foundation on the other stones of the
Apostles
and prophets,
Christ
Jesus
Himself our
Lord
being the chief
corner-stone
, because He is a part of the building made of living stones in the land of the living; therefore He is called a stone. All this we have said to show how capricious and baseless is the procedure of those who, when so many names are given to Christ, take the mere
appellation
the
Word
, without enquiring, as in the case of His other titles, in what sense it is used; surely they ought to ask what is meant when it is said of the Son of God that He was the
Word
, and God, and that He was in the beginning with the Father, and that all things were made by Him.

42. Of the Various Ways in Which Christ is the Logos.

As, then, from His activity in enlightening the world whose light He is,
Christ
is named the Light of the World, and as from His making those who sincerely attach themselves to Him put away their deadness and
rise
again and put on newness of life, He is called the
Resurrection
, so from an activity of another kind He is called
Shepherd
and Teacher, King and
Chosen
Shaft, and
Servant
, and in addition to these
Paraclete
and
Atonement and
Propitiation. And after the same fashion He is also called the Logos,
because He takes away from us all that is
irrational, and makes us truly reasonable, so that we do all things, even to eating and drinking, to the glory of God, and discharge by the Logos to the glory of
God
both the commoner functions of life and those which belong to a more advanced stage. For if, by having part in Him, we are
raised
up and enlightened,
herded also it may be and ruled over, then it is clear that we become in a divine manner reasonable, when He drives away from us what in us is irrational and dead, since He is the Logos (
reason
) and the
Resurrection
. Consider, however, whether all men have in some way part in Him in His
character
as Logos. On this point the
Apostle
teaches us that He is to be sought not outside the seeker, and that those find Him in themselves who set their heart on doing so; Say not Romans 10:6-8 in your heart, Who shall
ascend
into
heaven
? That is to bring
Christ
down; or, Who shall descend into the
abyss
? That is to bring
Christ
up from the dead. But what says the Scripture? The
Word
is very near you, in your mouth and in your heart, as if
Christ
Himself were the same thing as the
Word
said to be sought after. But when the
Lord
Himself says John 15:22If I had not come and spoken unto them, they had not had sin; but now they have no cloak for their sin, the only sense we can find in His words is that the Logos Himself says that those are not chargeable with sin to whom He (
reason
) has not fully come, but that those, if they sin, are guilty who, having had part in Him,
act
contrary to the
ideas
by which He declares His full presence in us. Only when thus read is the saying true: If I had not come and spoken to them, they had not had sin. Should the words be applied, as many are of opinion that they should, to the visible
Christ
, then how is it true that those had no sin to whom He did not come? In that case all who lived before the
advent
of the
Saviour
will be free from sin, since
Jesus
, as seen in flesh, had not yet come. And more— all those to whom He has never been preached will have no sin, and if they have no sin, then it is clear they are not liable to
judgment
. But the Logos in man, in which we have said that our whole race had part, is spoken of in two senses; first, in that of the filling up of
ideas
which takes place, prodigies excepted, in every one who passes beyond the age of boyhood, but secondly, in that of the consummation, which takes place only in the
perfect
. The words, therefore, If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not have had sin, but now they have no cloak for their sin, are to be understood in the former sense; but the words, John 10:8All that ever came before me are
thieves
and robbers, and the sheep did not hear them, in the latter. For before the consummation of
reason
comes, there is nothing in man but what is blameworthy; all is imperfect and defective, and can by no means command the obedience of those irrational elements in us which are
tropically
spoken of as sheep. And perhaps the former meaning is to be recognized in the words The Logos was made flesh, but the second in The Logos was
God
. We must accordingly look at what there is to be seen in human affairs between the saying, The
Word
(
reason
) was made flesh and The
Word
was
God
. When the Word was made flesh can we say that it was to some extent broken up and
thinned
out, and can we say that it recovered from that point onward till it became again what it was at first, God the Word, the
Word
with the Father; the
Word
whose glory
John
saw, the verily only-begotten, as from the Father. But the Son may also be the Logos (
Word
), because He reports the secret things of His Father who is intellect in the same way as the Son who is called the
Word
. For as with us the word is a messenger of those things which the
mind
perceives, so the Word of God, knowing the Father, since no
created
being can approach Him without a guide,
reveals
the Father whom He knows. For no one knows the Father
save
the Son, Matthew 11:27 and he to whomsoever the Son
reveals
Him, and inasmuch as He is the
Word
He is the
Messenger
of Great Counsel, Isaiah 9:5-6 who has the government upon His shoulders; for He entered on His
kingdom
by enduring the
cross
. In the
Apocalypse
,
moreover, the
Faithful
and
True
(the
Word
), is said to sit on a white horse, the epithets indicating, I consider, the clearness of the voice with which the
Word
of truth speaks to us when He sojourns among us. This is scarcely the place to show how the word horse is often used in passages spoken for our encouragement in
sacred
learning. I only cite two of these: A horse is
deceitful
for safety,
and Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we
will
rejoice in the name of the
Lord
our
God
.
Nor must we leave unnoticed a passage in the forty-fourth
Psalm
,
frequently quoted by many writers as if they understood it: My heart
has belched forth a
good
word, I speak my works to the King. Suppose it is God the Father who speaks thus; what is His heart, that the
good
word should appear in accordance with His heart? If, as these writers suppose, the
Word
(Logos) needs no interpretation, then the heart is to be taken in the
natural
sense too. But it is quite absurd to suppose
God's
heart to be a part of Him as ours is of our body. We must remind such writers that as when the hand of
God
is spoken of, and His arm and His finger, we do not read the words literally but enquire in what sound sense we may take them so as to be worthy of God, so His heart is to be understood of His
rational
power, by which He disposes all things, and His word of that which announces what is in this heart of His. But who is it that announces the counsel of the Father to those of His creatures who are worthy and who have
risen
above themselves, who but the
Saviour
? That belched forth is not, perhaps, without significance; a hundred other terms might have been employed; My heart has produced a
good
word, it might have been said, or My heart has spoken a
good
word. But in
belching
, some wind that was hidden makes its way out to the world, and so it may be that the Father gives out views of truth not continuously, but as it were after the fashion of
belching
, and the word has the
character
of the things thus produced, and is called, therefore, the image of the invisible
God
. We may enter our agreement, therefore, with the ordinary
acceptation
of these words, and take them to be spoken by the Father. It is not, however, a
matter
of course, that it is
God
Himself who announces these things. Why should it not be a prophet?
Filled
with the
Spirit
and unable to contain himself, he brings forth a word about his prophecy concerning
Christ
: My heart has belched forth a
good
word, I speak my works to the King, my pen is the tongue of a ready writer. Excellent in beauty is He beyond the sons of
men
. Then to the
Christ
Himself: Grace is poured out on Your lips. If the Father were the speaker, how could He go on after the words, Grace is poured out on your lips, to say, Therefore
God
has
blessed
you for ever, and a little further on, Therefore God, your God, has
anointed
you with the oil of gladness above your fellows. Some of those who wish to make the Father the speaker may
appeal
to the words, Hear, O daughter, and behold and incline your ear, and forget your people and your father. The prophet, it may be said, could not address the Church in the words, Hear, O daughter. It is not difficult, however, to show that changes of
person
occur frequently in the Psalms, so that these words, Hear, O daughter, might be from the Father, in this passage, though the
Psalm
as a whole is not. To our discussion of the
Word
we may here add the passage,
By the word of the
Lord
were the heavens founded, and all the power of them by the breath of His mouth. Some refer this to the
Saviour
and the Holy Spirit. The passage, however, does not
necessarily
imply any more than that the heavens were founded by the
reason
(
logos
) of God, as when we say that a house is built by the plan (
logos
) of the
architect
, or a ship by the plan (
logos
) of the
shipbuilder
. In the same way the heavens were founded (made solid) by the Word of God, for they are
of a more divine
substance
, which on this account is called solid;
it has little
fluidity
for the most part, nor is it easily melted like other parts of the world, and specially the lower parts. On account of this difference the heavens are said in a special manner to be constituted by the Word of God.

The saying then stands, first, In the beginning was the Logos; we are to place that full in our view; but the testimonies we cited from the
Proverbs
led us to place wisdom first, and to think of wisdom as preceding the
Word
which announces her. We must observe, then, that the Logos is in the beginning, that is, in wisdom, always. Its being in wisdom, which is called the beginning, does not prevent it from being with
God
and from being God, and it is not simply with God, but is in the beginning, in wisdom, with God. For he goes on: He was in the beginning with God. He might have said, He was with God; but as He was in the beginning, so He was with
God
in the beginning, and All things were made by Him, being in the beginning, for
God
made all things, as
David
tells us, in wisdom. And to let us understand that the
Word
has His own definite place and sphere as one who has life in Himself (and is a distinct
person
), we must also speak about powers, not about power. Thus says the
Lord
of powers, (A.V.
hosts
) we frequently read; there are
certain
creatures,
rational
and divine, which are called powers: and of these
Christ
was the highest and best, and is called not only the wisdom of
God
but
also His power. As, then, there are several powers of God, each of them in its own
form
, and the
Saviour
is different from these, so also
Christ
, even if that which is Logos in us is not in respect of
form
outside of us, will be understood from our discussion up to this point to be the Logos, who has His being in the beginning, in wisdom. This for the present may suffice, on the word: In the beginning was the Logos.